In Passing
by fatcatbeatrice
Summary: Collection of oneshots, probably all JeanxArmin to start. I'll add more pairings/characters as I write them.
1. 2 am

A/N: Summary: Two in the morning is a time when Jean and Armin could use some hope.

"Armin?" Jean murmured, voice low and tired, standing the doorway wearing his pajamas.

It the night before their first Survey Corps mission, maybe two in the morning, a time silent and foreboding. The darkness spread through the room not velvety and soft, but rough and many-shadowed, cut harshly by cold moonlight that fell just out of Armin's reach, on the floor. He lay on his side in his bed in the Survey Corps' headquarters, eyes narrowed, fists gripped in his sheet, doubts dancing with wishes in his mind.

Armin turned to face Jean, "Yes?" he whispered, half-holding himself up with his arm.

"Can I come in?"

"Mmm-hmm," Armin patted the bed next to him and sat up.

Jean walked to the spot, feet soft over the icy floor. He slid under the covers, settling next to Armin's warmth. A long moment of silence followed, Jean studying the dust on Armin's dresser, brought into harsh relief by the moonlight.

Finally, with a shaky sigh, the taller said "I'm scared."

Another beat, another breath, "Me too."

"Is it a two in the morning thing, to feel scared, and cold and utterly empty?" Jean forced out the words, trembling.

"Maybe," Armin entwined his fingers with Jean's, running a thumb over the back of his hand thoughtfully, "Or maybe it's a night to be scared."

"Your hands are cold…"

"It's a cold night, Jean," Armin dropped his head to the other's shoulder and Jean followed suit.

"Why did we join the Survey Corps, Armin?" Jean almost sounded tortured.

"I joined because I want to see the world... I want to stop hiding; I want to make a difference. I want to finally fight back."

"Leave it to you to have it figured out…" Jean chuckled harshly.

"Hell I do… I want to be strong, but sometimes, I feel so weak…" Armin trailed off, gazing at his free hand.

"You're plenty strong already, Armin. You saved Eren from the Garrison, and us all from the titans in the resupply room. You're strong because you fight through your weakness," Jean's voice was steadier than it had been all night, and he shifted his head to kiss Armin on the cheek.

"Thanks…" Armin whispered, blushing, "But why did you join?"

"Honestly? I don't know… I just felt I'd be too disappointed in myself if I joined the Military Police. Somehow, after Trost, I just feel like I needed to do it. Seeing Marco and so many others dead, so meaninglessly, so quietly…"

"Mmm…" Armin turned to face Jean, cupping his cheek with one hand, "I feel like you're a person with a strong moral compass, but you just don't know how to read it. Maybe that's your weakness; you don't know why you want what you want… But despite being afraid and unsure, you do what you feel is the right thing," His voice was tender and gentle.

"I just… I don't know if I can do this… I keep seeing Marco's face, and hearing myself order people to use other's deaths to escape…," tears formed at the corners of his eyes, and trickled down his face, slipping into the crevice between his and Armin's cheeks, "It just feels so bleak, and hopeless," he sighed, and Armin pressed heir foreheads together for a moment, before they returned to their original position, head on shoulder, shoulder on head.

"Isn't that why we fight? So those people haven't died in vain? We carry their deaths, their wishes on our shoulders. We have to make it right, have to fight back. We have to have hope," Armin finished strongly.

"Hope… Eren?" Jean muttered, "He can; even control his titan… I don't want to die in vain, not even knowing what I'm trying to protect, what we're trying to achieve, or even if it can be achieved."

"It can be. It happened in Trost. It can happen again. We just have to give Eren everything, even our lives. Hope can be a difficult thing," Armin sounded tired.

"Just that… Can I give Eren my life? I don't want to die," Jean's voice petered out, a desperate whisper.

"I think yes, you can, because you are strong. I know in the end you will make the right choice, because you are strong. But also, because you are strong, we are strong, because we have hope; I know that we will not die without a fight," Armin turned to kiss Jean, soft and chaste, then pulled back, holding eyes contact, willing Jean to understand, "It's okay to feel weak. I'm sure Eren feels weak right now, knowing how many will die for his sake tomorrow. I feel weak, knowing that I can't protect myself very well. And you feel weak, because you don't know if you can die for someone else. But, tomorrow, know that I have faith in you, faith that you can draw from that weakness, that fear, a strength, an anger, a will to fight. You are strong, Jean," Armin finished his speech, face intense, voice quiet with a deadly determination.

"Armin… Do you mind if I stay here tonight? It's warm," Jean had the barest hint of a smile, tired and sad.

"Of course. It's too cold to sleep alone," Armin returned the smile, his own a bit stronger.

So they slid onto their sides, facing each other, legs entwined. Armin snuggled his face into the crook of Jean's neck, and felt the other's arms around him, comforting and safe.

As they settled in, Armin felt jean's lips against his ear: "Thank you," impossibly quiet.

"Anytime," he replied, just as softly.

Jean pressed a good-night kiss to Armin's forehead, and they slept, backs turned to the cold, ragged dark and icy moonlight, cradling a spark of hope between them.

A/N: Prompt: 2 a.m.

Time: 1 hour?

Words: 960

Pages: 3 1/2 in MS Word, Garamond size 12, 1.5 spaces

this is kind of rough, sorry ^^ but it's late

I was going to write a happy Reigisa thing, but then I watched an episode of SNK. (that I've been on an SNK high for the past week, because I finally got around to watching the anime)

Oh, and this going to be a series of oneshots, probably under 2,000 words or something. Most will be happier/fluffier! (hopefully...)

This is the only pairing from SNK that I'm really sure about, I actually really like them. That and Armin is probably the cutest thing this side of my cat(s).

um, I really like writing in Garamond lately, although it doesn't make a difference here... Jean's name looks so pretty in it)

that's all, I guess?


	2. Make the Most of it

A/N: Summary: Armin and jean have a day off, they may as well make the most of it.

Paring: ArminxJean, Pre-established relationship.

Timeline: After joining the Survey Corps, before the first mission.

Rating: T (yes, that's tight, I don't write smut)

Prompt: Linger

He liked words that lingered, dropping form open mouth and floating through the air, soft as feathers, weightless and languid. They dripped like honey into his ears, the melody curling around his fingers and settling across his legs, bared to the sun's heat.

It was nice, to feel no need to rush and run and race to battle, but to lie in the comforting warmth, and let the words, the liquid notes slip past, easing their way to pillow his head. He shifted just slightly; bark rubbing his back through his shirt. Yes. A very nice change of pace.

He liked lingering touches, too. He could still feel their last kiss, soft, on the lips; it buzzed through his nerves with a drunken feeling of satisfaction. The tickling of straw hair across his collarbone, like so many moth-wings. Drowsy circles traced on the back of his hand by the other's thumb. Soft puffs of air, the pitches embodied, floating across his chest as the song ended.

"Armin?" Jean asked, once the other finished. The blond had been singing softly, an old song the music to which he'd found when cleaning the storage shed.

"Yeah?" Armin looked up, a tiny smile on his face.

"What do the words mean? The ones you sang? It wasn't our language."

"It's in Latin, 'Dona nobis pacem'. The music said that it means 'grant us peace'," Armin snuggled a bit closer, to kiss the hollow of Jean's collarbone, revealed by his v-neck shirt.

"Peace, eh… How many days like this so you think we'll have? A day off, with nothing to do, no training, or fighting, or crying…" Jean trailed off, gazing up through the leaves, to the sky.

"Now that we've joined the Survey Corps? Who knows… " Armin sighed, but it was contented, and he snuggled into the taller's chest.

"Pretty damn romantic, isn't it… Sitting here on the riverbank, not a care in the world. Might as well make the most of it," He grinned, and used his free hand (the other held by Armin) to tip the blond's chi up and kiss him, hard.

"Mmph!" And before Jean could even initiate some tongue, Armin pulled away, "I wasn't prepared!" He cried indignantly, blushing and furrowing his brow.

"Ah, come on, that's no fun," Jean shot back, teasing, "It's our day off, and you're too cute when you're annoyed."

Armin chose to ignore the comment for now, instead saying, "Oh, you want to have fun…" He grinned wickedly, the same look on his face as, say, when, he had just concocted a plan to kill a few titans. The smaller lunged forward, hands at Jean's sides, tickling him unmercilessly.

"Damn… it…" Jean gasped out, "Christ, Armin… not… fair," He panted, losing breath.

"Fine, fine… I'll be nice, just for today," Armin grinned, sitting back to straddle jean, a bit breathless as well.

"Seeing his chance, Jean flipped Armin to reverse their positions, "Jeez, you're such a pushover;" He grinned hungrily.

"Shut up…" Armin squirmed beneath him, much brighter red than before.

"Might make the most of it," Jean replied, and leaned down for a kiss.

A/N: you may fill the rest in in your heads, if you wish.

Time: 1 hour? (to write 500 words, christ…)

Words: 522

Length: 1 ½ pages in MS word, size 12 Garamond, 1.5 spaces

Other important story information:

Langauage: I'm guessing (based on names) that at this point the language is a conglomeration of European languages, but chiefly German and English, maybe a bit of French? So I just went for the cop-out and wrote 'our language'. heh.

Dona Nobis Pacem: Is a real song. I just wanted something Latin and decided Pie Jesu was too depressing.

I imagine Armin would like music/be able to read it.

and christ, I need to stop writing at 12 in the morning, it does nothing for the quality…


	3. Charm

A/N: Summary: Armin's charming.

Prompt: Charm

Timeline: None in particular.

Rating: K+

It is the twirl and dip, elegant swan steps and jaunty prances, the barest grasps of fingers as Armin spins and bows, gazing coyly up through blond locks, eyes alive and mouth quirked.

It is the long yawns and eye-rubbing after a late night studying, and ruffled hair and almost falling asleep in class.

It is tiny smiles and muted chuckles (Armin never seems to giggle) and a general reservedness that seems to end in averted eyes and a blushing face whenever called cute.

It is the sly grin and determined eyes, the commanding voice that finally comes out when he as a plan.

It is thoughtful focus and crisp page turns, eyebrows scrunched and nose wrinkled, easy shoulders and the hilarious gasp of surprise when Jean sneaks behind him and blows on his ear. Armin whirls and looks ready to tell Jean off, but the taller quickly kisses Armin, who leans back to sputter, before realizing he is in library and clamps a hand over his mouth looking mortified.

Yes, Jean decides, Armin has plenty of charm.

A/N: super-quickie.

Time: 15 minutes

Words: 170

Pages: less than ½ in MS word

other comments: deservedness should be a word.

not sure if my descriptions even really fit the definition of charm, but that's okay with me.

got another quickie coming, I think.

and yeah, don't xepect updates more than once a week. I play soccer, piano, ride (horses) and all my core classes are honors, plus I have a language (naturlich!) and an engineering class, plus photography as a 'serious hobby'.

wheee school.


	4. He Could Get Used to This

**AN: Summary: Jean has to adjust to actually living with Armin once they move to the Survey Corps headquarters.**

**Timeline: I guess before the first mission? Could also be after the reformation of Squad Levi, or both. Take your pick. And they share one room, maybe one of their own, leaving the other empty? Whatever pleases you; this is rather open-ended.**

**Rating: K+/almost T?**

Since they moved into the Survey Corps headquarters and got their rooms, Jean has had to get used to a few things.

Jean groaned and buried his head into the pillow, hands clutching desperately at the sheets.

"Will you just go to bed already?" He tried to say, but it came out like a fish trying to speak while it was being suffocated.

He waited for several seconds before hearing a distracted "Huh?" from somewhere out of the bed, on the other side of the room, somewhere near that god-awful light.

Shifting just enough to free his mouth, Jean responded, "You know what I said. Go to bed; it's one in the morning."

Another long note of silence, "Oh. That's nice," Armin said vacantly and turned a page of his book.

Jean sighed noisily, exasperated, "What are you reading, anyway?"

This time Armin snapped to a little more attention, "It's a geography book, about mountains," he fell silent again.

"Hmph, sounds boring…" Jean muttered, quiet enough for Armin not to hear, and then tried once more: "Do you want to go to bed?"

No response, not even a glance in his direction. It was time for more drastic measures.

Jean slid out of bed and crept behind Armin, abruptly slamming his hands on the blond's shoulders and then scooping him up and over his shoulder, receiving an indignant squeak in return. Jean grinned and blew out the lamp, carrying Armin to bed and dumping him unceremoniously on the sheet.

He lifted the covers he thrown back earlier (who said he couldn't plan ahead?) and pulled them up over the two of them. As Armin started to protest, Jean pressed a kiss to his lips, making him blush and shut up, then buried his face into the shorter's firm chest, hugging him tightly.

"And stay here," he mumbled, breathing the sharp, inky and clean, soapy scent of Armin.

"Fine," the scholar sighed, and ran his hand over Jean's hair, kissing the top of his head.

* * *

Jean had suspected something was wrong when he continued to catch a familiar sweet scent all day, and knew something was wrong when Squad Leader Zacharias frowned and then winked at him. After all, the man hadn't smelled him since his first day.

But he wasn't mortified until Eren got a whiff of him during training, and snarkily said, "Wearing perfume today horse-face? It certainly doesn't improve you, if you were wondering," he smirked and Connie laughed behind them.

But Mikasa noted, "He smells like Armin, not perfume."

Jean groaned at this revelation. He'd been especially tired this morning, and must have used Armin's new shampoo by accident. Now he smelled like a flower shop with a sprinkle of sparkles, which was good scent for Armin, but far from his usual masculine freshness.

Armin had a good laugh at his expense later, but apologized with an exceptional massage, 'so you won't be tired and waste more of my shampoo tomorrow'. Not bad.

* * *

For the fifth time that evening, Jean looked up from his whittling, sure he'd heard something. But there was only Armin on the other side of the room, hunched over some plans at his desk. He shrugged and returned to his work next to the fire. It had been a long day.

But then it reached his again, a mumbly muffled sound, rough and unintelligible.

"Do you hear that?" He asked Armin.

"Hear what now?" Armin's head had shot up from its previous position of hovered over plans.

"Just a mumbling or something. It might just be me. And sitting all hunched over like that is bad for your back and neck," He cautioned.

Armin flapped a hand to dismiss his comment, and said, "I'll be fine; I'll stretch or something in a bit. And the sound is probably just something outside," he returned to his work.

With Armin that focused, Jean decided that the whole posture thing wasn't a battle worth fighting tonight. Every leader had to pick and choose fights, he reasoned, returning to whittling.

However, upon hearing the sound again, Jean was ready to give up and go to the infirmary for psychological testing, but paused when it got louder. And louder. Until he realized it came from the other side of the room, along with the scratching of a quill and rustling of papers.

"Armin… Have you been talking under your breath this whole time? Jean grumbled in frustration.

The blond turned to look at him. "Oh. I have? Sorry…" He blushed, and ran a hand through his hair.

"Sokay. But maybe you should take a break?"

Armin glanced reluctantly from his work to Jean.

"Oh, just come over here," Jean set down his carving, opened his arms and offered his lap.

"Fine," Armin smiled a bit and padded in his sock feet to Jean, settling in the proffered lap, feeling arms wrap around his waist. Jean kissed the junction of Armin's neck and shoulder, and rested his head there.

"Good. Now read to me from that book of fairy tales," his tone was satisfied.

"If you say so," Armin leaned over to grab the volume from the table, and settled back against Jean to read.

* * *

Clothes flew across the room, and Jean huffed in exasperation. He needed that belt; roll call was in ten minutes!

"Armin!" he called.

"Yeah?" A blond head popped out of the bathroom.

"Did you do something with my belt?"

"I put it away. You left it on the table last night," Armin scolded.

"Where did you put it?" Jean chose not to argue about his apparent messiness. The belt hadn't even been on the floor!

"In the third drawer down on the right in the little dresser," the smaller recited.

Oh. He hadn't even been looking in the right dresser.

Later that night, as they got comfortable in bed, Jean felt a rustling next to his leg. He reached down pulled a scrap of parchment with some rough sketches and scrawlings across the wrinkled surface.

"What is this?' He raised an eyebrow at Armin.

"Oh, that? I had an idea this morning and had to write it down…" Armin yawned.

"And you get angry at me for being messy…"

I was going to remove it, but I forgot," Armin grumped.

"Whatever you say," Jean muttered and flung the parchment over his shoulder in favor of a few sleepy kisses.

* * *

Jean was ready to breathe a sigh of relief when he pushed open the door of their room, expecting a warm fire and sleepy and potentially extra adorable Armin, but was greeted with a blast of cold air and his boyfriend's face covered with a book that had a picture of a spider on it. Ugh.

"Armin? Why didn't you start the fire?" Jean sighed a bit, rubbing his arms.

"Oh… I-I forg-got-t?" Armin teeth chattered as he put down the book.

"Christ… You sound cold," Exasperation turned to concern as he walked over.

"Now t-that I think-k ab-bout, yeah, I a-am…" Armin shuddered.

Jean shrugged off his cloak, putting it over Armin's thin nightshirt, and hugged him. Armin melted into Jean's body heat, sighing contentedly.

After standing like that for a few minutes, Jean reluctantly released Armin and guided him to the bed.

"Just a second, let me start a fire and change and then I'll be in bed," Jean struck a match to light the fire he'd set up earlier that day.

"Thank-ks… Sorry…" Armin muttered, looking down from where he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Don't worry about it," Jen changed as quickly as possible, but Armin eyes followed even the briefest flashes of skin and firm muscle.

Thankfully the fire burned hot, and Jean was able to quickly add a good-sized log that would last a few hours, although the room was still cold.

Satisfied with the fire, Jean padded over to the bed and slid in with Armin, who immediately discarded Jean's cloak on the chair and snuggled against him, goose bumps still visible in the places where his arms were exposed. Jean pulled back a bit to kiss his fingers and wrist, sending slow pulses of satisfied warmth through Armin's veins. His lip eventually found the other's, then his cheek and nose and jaw and hair, until Armin was sighing with content and melting with kisses.

When the blond yawned, Jean ceased his pecks along Amin's hairline and pulled him close feeling arms go around his back and a head snuggle into the crook of his neck and soft hair spread over his cheek, heat enveloping him.

He could get used to this.

**AN: sorry about the excessive use of Jean's name, might go back and edit that later…**

**Words: 1,440**

**Pages: Four in MS word, Garamond size 12, single spacing**

**Time: 1.5ish hours**

**Might do a part two for this, as these feel kind of repetitive (because I need sleeeeeeep)**


	5. Passions Run

**AN: Summary: Jean and Armin get separated from the corps.**

**Timeline: Not necessarily canon, just some random mission. **

**Rating: T**

**Prompt: passions run**

Their passions ran in the rain that night. It tore down Armin's face with the tears and it drowned out Jean's curses. It dripped from their noses and hung in droplets from their hair. Eventually Jean got tired of wiping it away from his eyebrows so that he could see properly.

It was cold, and dark, and the small lamp they shared felt inconsequential against the night. But they snuggled together under their cloaks on the biggest branch they could find and watched the shadows. Jean could feel Armin trembling next to him, and couldn't tell if it was fear or the chill.

"Hey... How long until the morning?" Jean murmured voice soft in Armin's ear.

Armin checked the watch they'd been issued, much earlier before being separated from the rest of the Corps, "Another few hours," He sighed shakily.

"Tired?"

"Too nervous to be tired," Armin laughed ruefully, the sound hollow and dry like the spider exoskeleton Jean had found when he was young.

A few minutes of silence passed, and, without thinking, Jean blurted, "I don't want morning to come." Morning meant decisions, and no more excuses, and facing light. Jean wanted stay in the dark, where he could at least hope they were safe.

Armin nodded as if he understood, but joked, "As those ridiculous motivation brochures we received in training would say, 'Feeling like nothing is going your way? Just wait for the new day!'". Who even came up with that?" Armin shook his head, chuckling. Jean found himself laughing alongside him. Absurd.

"Well, when I'm commander, and you're my strategist, we can change that. Try, at least," Jean joked.

Armin tried to smile, but more tears slipped down his cheeks.

"Shit, I'm sorry, that was stupid…" Jean moaned, realizing he'd made their already precarious situation feel even direr. He wrapped both arms around Armin, rocking back and forth as much as he could on their branch.

Armin, for once, could find no words, make no plan. So he kissed Jean instead, and tears swirled with rain and moans mingled with curses and bloodstained hands did all they could to hold on to some piece of sanity and the rain fell on.

Their passions ran with the rain that night. They poured over and ran down each other's bodies, and dribbled away with hope and came back with renewed courage and desperation. Desperation to feel something but fragmented, splintering despair.

Their passions rushed and surged and led them towards morning. It flowed through kisses and murmurs and wails and hugs and tired attempts at comfort. And when the sun rose, they held hands, gripping all they'd had that night turned to face it.

Ending I

And it was nothing. It was cold light and harsh loneliness and the distant presence of titans. So they kissed again and Jean whistled desperately, futilely for his horse. It was futile indeed, they found, in the passing days, days when they snuggled and sobbed and let themselves go, let their scrape against bark kisses linger and their moans do the talking.

Even as their hope ran out, their passions ran.

Ending II

The sun peeked over the horizon as the rain petered out, and Jean felt empty and, somehow, dry. His ears rang and his free hand trembled. They waited, watching water drip from the branch above them, listening for hooves, eyes scanning the horizon for flares. And, after an hour, they were rewarded. A small squad, faster without wagons and supplies, fired a signal near the area where they'd split up, and Jean returned. They clambered down from their tree, mounted the spare horses, and headed home without incident.

That night, Jean stood at Armin' back and traced small marks, bruises.

"Sorry, Armin...I might have gotten carried away," voice spare and soft in the dark room.

"It's fine," The blond sighed with the phrase. For some reason, they felt sacred to him. Each was a word, a wish, a secret of the night before. Some of them might have been morbid jokes or guilt-filled confessions, or regrets. "Can we go to bed? It's cold," he finally said, trying a small smile Jean couldn't see anyway.

"Sure," he followed Armin to their bed, and they settled in, snuggled to each other. It seemed strange, even after a single nigh outside the walls, to sleep peacefully, in warmth and relative safety. "Armin?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I've might've gone crazy last night without you," he paused for breath, "Thanks for helping me forget." He meant for all of it, the kisses and the sex and the jokes and the threadbare comfort; for the warmth of someone else, for a hand to gold onto and voice to hear, to keep him from a waking nightmare.

"Of course. I love you," for all the emotion that it carried, for the weight of the last night, Armin's reply was simple.

"Love you too."

And they slept, and even without the rain and the despair and the moans, their passions ran.

**AN: how does one do the do ona branch? i'd imagine with good balance and a 3DMG anchor. hmm.**

**Words: 835 (w/out AN)**

**Pages: 2.5 in MS Word, 1.5 lins, Garamond 12**

**Time: first draft 30minutes, a month in my computer, completion/editing 45 minutes.**

**not sure about this one... and wheee it's been while but school.**

**and it's 1:21 so one of this is coherent anyway.**

**reviews appreciated!**


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